Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 16:31:33 +0200 From: ilga Subject: ILGA E-mail Action Network ILGA E-MAIL ACTION NETWORK: Report: 24 October 1996 Since the birth of the International Lesbian and Gay Association in 1978, action campaigns have been an important part of our work. In recent years, ILGA has benefitted from the collaboration of the International Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission, who acted as the ILGA Action Secretariat until the summer of 1995, and send out a regular bulletin calling for actions to protest human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people world-wide. While no longer ILGA's Action Secretariat, IGLHRC and ILGA continue to officially collaborate on actions. In order to supplement this work, ILGA has recently been working with Swedish activist, Bjorn Skolander, who has been perfecting the art of E-mail actions as a concerned individual. Now, Bjorn and ILGA are working together officially to use the power of internet to make actions most effective. Calls for ILGA member actions will be distributed on the Internet and an organized response in the form of petitions will be faxed/mailed to government officials, media, etc. You or your organisation can choose to take part in a joint easy-to-participate action or to fax or mail your own individual letters of protest. Here's how it works: 1/ ILGA receives information from groups or individuals wanting to call actions. 2/ An e-mail action alert is written and distributed through our extensive network of press and mailing list contacts 3/ Any individual or group who wishes to add their name to the protest letter, can do so automatically by replying to Bjorn at: actions@ilga.org 4/ Protest letters are sent to the concerned authorities or governments 5/ All actions are also forwarded to IGLHRC who may distribute it in their written action alert newsletter. Some ways for you to participate: 1/ send your actions to actions@ilga.org with clear information on what happened that requires a protest, the officials that should receive the protest letters, and a suggested timeline or deadline for the signatures to be received on the letter. 2/ add your name to the permanent list of protesters. So far, there are 25 names that automatically go onto every list. 3/ keep your eyes open for ILGA e-mail action alerts, and participate! So far, in 1996, e-mail actions have been called for human rights violations in Slovenia, Argentina, Zimbabwe, and Spain. Bjorn's previous e-mail actions have gathered together signatures from over 100 individuals and organizations. Thank you for your attention and participation. We invite all of you to spread the word on our work, and to get involved. Show your solidarity and fight for the right to love all over the world! Andy Quan coordinator, ILGA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ILGA - International Lesbian and Gay Association 81 Kolenmarkt, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Phone/Fax +32-2-502-2471, E-mail: ilga@ilga.org A federation of over 300 groups from 75 countries fighting for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We also have over 100 supportive associate and individual members. Will you join us? Contact us for more info!